Sensei's Under Pressure

[Scully]

Teachers of a martial art are put under a lot of pressure when they own a club. I have to admit this is very stupid but unavoidable. For example, my sensei only has a few decent fighters in his club, and he knows it. He tries to teach the younger fighters karate but it seems they only come to play and mess around. He passes them their grades though, knowing that they don’t deserve it. Now you're going to say "another McDojo, get out of there Scully!" But it isn’t like that. He is in fact a very good teacher and a Sensei can only teach a student willing to learn. If he didn’t pass the kids for there grades, the club would close down and the only reason he keeps it open is because of the select few who are actually trying. I can see the disappointment in his face when he watches the children do their katas

To the point, I would just like some people to think before they insult other dojos about just giving out the ranks. Sometimes it’s more than just bad senseis and there is a serious problem.

(By the way, my sensei has tried looking for a new smaller dojo, there are none because we are in a small town.) He is now trying the harshest of discipline (allowed by law) to try and get the kids into shape but there is one problem. They are modern day kids (which cause many a problem)

[SitsWithFists]

That is definately a problem. What other schools are doing in this situation is getting the striped belts - kind of a step between a normal rank - to keep them promoting. It satisfies the kids and their parents. Hopefully as the kids mature they start getting more serious. Good luck

peace

[Samuel]

We have alot of children at out club, and thankfully they seldom mess around, perhaps some of them who are friendly may suddnely start talking to teach other but the stern "Watch it, or youll be doing 10 press-ups again" from who ever's taking the lesson seems to work a treat.

The club doesnt do any of the childrens syllubus, everyone learns the full, adult syllubus, no exceptions for the children

[Shui Tora]

Our club have a lot of younger grades (a large majority of them are under 5th Kyu) and so with som e senior grades included in the lesson, it gets a bit harder for the sensei to teach the syllabus...

Luckily, with our own Dojo, our Sensei can set up extra lessons (need it be) for the senior grades to practice but also to learn too...

I'm not saying that we should stop having new people joining (after all, Karate is for everyone) but most people tend to drop out of karate after they get to about 4th Kyu (either as it is too much, or that education is on the list, which is understandable), and so there are more novicies joining, than there are senior grades...

[bushido_man96]

I can understand what you are saying, but two wrongs do not make a right. There are a couple of things that your sensei could try to do. One possibility is that he could take the students who are serious about karate, and try very hard (not to be confused with skill level), and just take them to workout in his backyard/garage/community center, and drop the rest. If he owns a club that is small, he most likely not using it as his primary source of income, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Another option is to introduce some new grading ideas, like adding stripes to the belts, or adding more belts, if you have room for them. This will make more work for the kids to do, they will have to test more often, but will hopefully make better gains, and show more improvement.

You say your sensei is a good instructor. If so, he should not worry about the quantity of his students, but the quality that he can put into each one that he has. Eventually, by passing out belts, it will come back on his reputation.

Have the sensei talk to the parents about what his plans for the kids are. Most likely the parents will agree, and the kids will have to shape up.

Good luck to you and your sensei. I hope things improve for the both of you.

[Angel05GT]

my sensei is worried about his dojo sometimes, wether he admits it or not, you can tell. and i feel bad for him, but hes workin his butt off to try and make everything work. he'll figure it out, and so will your sensei, if he truly wants it.

[jnpnshr411]

bushido ideally what you describe would work great. Regardless of what you do there are kids that dont want to work. They just go to play. Unfortunately a teacher that owns a school also owns a business and he has to do certain things to keep it going. one problem with this is parents dont really help support teachers and dont tell their kids that they have to work.

[bushido_man96]

bushido ideally what you describe would work great. Regardless of what you do there are kids that dont want to work. They just go to play. Unfortunately a teacher that owns a school also owns a business and he has to do certain things to keep it going. one problem with this is parents dont really help support teachers and dont tell their kids that they have to work.

I hear what you are saying, I had a kid in class tonight who just was not with it. It is tough, but you have to let them know what you expect of them. If you let the kids slack all of the time, you don't gain anything. And then there are the kids who work their butts off, but just aren't quite as good. But you reward them for their work. It helps to make the kids' class more fun, but sometimes you just have to grind it out of them.

Personally, I am going to make sure the kids are ready if they plan on testing. If they are not, and look bad, and ill-prepared, then that reflects on me. I am going to give them their money's worth if at all possible.

[Scully]

Well my sensei is going to try a new way of ailing the kids but nt officialy. He will hold a mock grading half way between real gradings (every few months or so) and if they do not pass this mock grading, they dont get to take their real one. It will stop the kids who dont deserve to pass their grade from taking it but also should stop them from quitting because they didnt fail their ACTUAL grading. Probaly a little of psychology pulled in there. Hope it works though.

[RichardHangHong]

How often does your sensei run a grading?